Dabur helps 12 villages achieve open defecation-free status

NEW DELHI: Home-grown FMCG major Dabur has helped 12 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh achieve the open defecation-free (ODF) status by joining the government's Swachh Bharat initiative.

The company has a target of bringing 26 villages under ODF by the end of 2017-18, Dabur said in a statement. It has helped construct toilets at over 2,600 households in eight villages in Uttar Pradesh and four in Himachal Pradesh.

In addition, separate toilet blocks for boys and girls are being built in close to 20 schools across five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Assam.

"Our idea is to improve the overall hygiene standards in these villages and turn them into model villages, offering a variety of services, from operating health posts," Dabur IndiaCSR Head A Sudhakar said.

The all-equity merger deal includes an exchange ratio of 4.39 HUL shares for each GSK Consumer India share, along with GSK entire operations of nutrition business and contract to distribute the latter's over-the-counter (OTC) and oral care brands such as Sensodyne, Eno and Crocin.